19. ‘Malcolm’

NINETEEN

‘MALCOLM'

MALTY

The damage that was done to Cici in such a short period of time shocks me. How can a human being do that kind of cruelty to someone and not have any repercussions? When Yoggie finally got the cuffs off Cici and we tried to pull her off that piece of torture wood, she let out such a high-pitched screech it hurt my ears. I know I'll never forget the agony behind it. So with the help of Yoggie, Panther, Avalanche, and Enforcer we slowly flipped her to the side, and my God, her entire back had been whipped and torn to shreds. Not only was she in pain because of the injuries, but she was placed on the board while bleeding so the blood dried. Fuck. I look around and am shocked when Tink stops in front of me with two, no, three bottles of water.

"Try this, Malcolm, it might help. I would give her something for pain because, no matter what, that is going to hurt bad. It's going to reopen some of those marks and pull off some of the loose skin. Wildcat, talk to her, get her out of her head. Maybe talking with you will distract her some. Yeah, I know, but best we can do. Enforcer, put a call out to Tank and tell him we are going to need the copter to get her out of here. There's a clear field about three minutes to the north of us. Right now, as you can hear, Shadow is playing. Duchess and Glory are checking out the other women. We've found a couple of shallow graves, so may be able to match DNA and give some families closure. Okay, I'll be back. Get her ready for transport, no matter what you must do. I have a feeling that all of the degenerates aren't here so we don't want to get caught here with all these innocents around. Especially in the shape they all are in."

I watch that tiny woman walk away, thinking that looks can be deceiving. I'd hate to have to go against her ever. Something waves in front of my face so I focus and see Yoggie has a syringe loaded already.

"Cici. Cici, hey, look at me. I want to make you as comfortable as possible. Do you have any allergies?"

She opens her mouth but nothing comes out. Frankie pours a tiny amount of water on her lips as Cici shakes her head. When she can, she again shocks the hell out of me.

"I can't take pain medication. I hurt my knee in high school and got hooked on opioids. Took me almost nine months to come clean. Don't want to go down that road again."

As Cici is talking, the red-haired club sister of Frankie's walks up close. She must have heard what Cici said because she takes a knee next to my girl.

"Cici, right? I was also hooked on opioids, so I get why you're worried. Listen though, what they are about to do is going to be excruciatingly painful. Malcolm isn't going to give you a lot of pain medication, just enough to not only calm you down but take the edge off. If you want, I'll be right here with Wildcat. You can squeeze my hand as hard as you want, even break a finger or two if that will get you through this."

I see Cici look to the hand held out to her and I realize Heartbreaker's fingers look to have already been broken. Cici asks the question.

"Yeah, my fingers have been broken already because I chose drugs instead of a person in trouble. You aren't doing that, Cici. This is called surviving. So can the guys do their thing and get you ready for transport? Honey, you need medical attention and not only for your back. You're losing blood fast and you know what I'm trying to say in mixed company. Please let them get you from this contraption so we can move you to where the helicopter will land."

"Will you be able to come with me in the helicopter? Heartbreaker, that's what you said your name is, right? I don't want to be alone, especially with a bunch of men."

My stomach flips because this isn't just physical but also emotional and psychological abuse. Those fuckers altered this poor girl's life forever. How the hell do these women and men do this all the time? It feels like my heart and soul are being pulled from my body. I feel a small hand on my lower back and turn to see Frankie's eyes on mine. She mouths, "You okay?" Yeah, that's just like her, always worrying about everyone. I nod just as Cici tells Heartbreaker she's ready to get out of here. Thank Christ.

Yoggie grabs two bottles and another syringe. When he shows me the medication, I nod. Good choice giving her more of a relaxer like Xanax. The second is Tramadol. I'm going to use the middle dosage of sixty mg/ml. This should not only help with the pain but these two drugs will hopefully put Cici into a form of twilight, which will allow us to move her.

I lift the filthy blanket off Cici, checking her hip for somewhere to give the shot. She's a mess, so I give Yoggie a look then point with the syringe to her arm. He nods and after a quick swipe of an alcohol pad, which seems stupid but it's my training, I inject the medication into Cici's arm. Within, shit, like four minutes or so her eyes get heavy. Both Frankie and Heartbreaker are softly talking to her. With the help of the men, we again lean Cici and the wooden contraption to the side and start pouring the water on her to loosen the dried blood. The more water we use, the horror of what she went through is becoming very apparent. After the third bottle, when we go to put her down, Tink comes running in with two more bottles of water. She hands them off and immediately leaves.

Now that all the water has been poured over Cici's back, we gently put her back on the ground. I give the women a look so they know we are about to literally pull her off the wood. Yoggie moves to her feet and places his foot on the board she's been cuffed to. Frankie does the same and I see their eyes meet. They'll make great partners because they already have a relationship and seem to read each other. Back to the matter at hand. Panther is on one side and Avalanche is on my side.

"Doc, move outta the way. No way we're putting ya at risk. We'll lift her, you make sure she comes off that board, no matter what. Be prepared, Malcolm, no matter how many drugs you shoot into her, she is going to make sounds you've never heard in your life before. This is going to be torture for her, so let's do this quickly. How do you want her once she's off, on her stomach, maybe? So you can get a good look of the damage done."

I just nod while moving out of the way. I'm between Avalanche and Frankie and all of them are looking at me for direction. Shit, okay, we can do this.

"Okay, on three, pull her off. So one, two, three…."

The sounds coming from Cici aren't even human. They sound like a wild animal being tortured or killed. At the same moment we start to pull her off, we hear another scream coming from whatever Shadow is doing. Panther glances toward the door but never stops pulling Cici up. We hear weird noises coming as her body is pulled from the board. When she is free her head hangs a bit, though Heartbreaker is holding on tightly. Once the guys turn her so I can see her back, I feel the bile come up my throat but I swallow it down.

It looks like raw meat. Besides being whipped, she was also burned with either cigarettes or cigars. On her one shoulder I can even see the striations of muscle through the deep open cut. Immediately, I move the duffel bag closer as I pull out saline and gauze. Yoggie is right across from me and together we clean Cici's back as best we can. With sterile scissors he cuts off layers of hanging skin that already are turning black. Using butterfly strips to try to close the worst ones, we work our way down her back. Yoggie reaches over, pushing on my shoulder, then looks down. Goddamn it.

Looks like Cici has some form of a rupture or prolapsed anus due to severe sexual assault. She'll need surgery to repair that. Son of a bitch. Yoggie is monitoring her stats while both Panther and Avalanche help me with her many injuries. Once we have her as stable as possible, I look around for something to put her on. Yoggie dives into the bottom of the duffle bag and pulls out another nylon bag. Then he pulls out something that looks like a mix between a yoga mat and a banner. He flips it open, grabs some poles to support it, then lays it right next to Cici. Well, what the hell, I have never seen anything like that before.

"Malcolm, we used these a lot when I was in the military. Easy enough to pack in your gear and helps when someone needs to be moved carefully. I'd say try and put her on her side. Or as best we can. Gotta get a move on, chopper is on its way."

Together as a team we prop Cici on the makeshift stretcher and between Yoggie, Panther, Avalanche, and Enforcer, they pick her up. I know they are trying to protect me, but damn, I feel useless. Well, until Panther tells me to lead the way. With Heartbreaker and Frankie on either side of me, we carefully walk toward the field. It looks to have been cleared out recently so maybe that was their plan to get rid of or sell these women.

In the distance I hear something, not sure what. Looking up, that's when I see the drone circling the area.

"Yeah, that's our brother, Freak, keeping eyes in the sky. This way we are covered and no surprises, Malcolm. Ain't our first rodeo, Doc."

I look behind me to see all the men smirking or grinning. Yeah, gotta find something to smile about when dealing with this kind of stuff. We set Cici down and we all surround her. Heartbreaker is down on a knee, holding her hand, talking to her even though she's unconscious. That's when I hear the swooshing sound. I tilt my head and when it comes into view my mouth drops open. How in the fuck does Tink's dad have one of them? I think to myself.

"Malcolm, we all asked the same question first time we saw that thing. It's an Airbus EC145 and from what Zoey has told me, it's not Tank's. He has a friend who, let's just say acquired this machine. He leaves it out here in a hanger for Tank to use when he needs it."

I watch as the big bird lands and immediately Cici is lifted and brought to the side door. She's loaded up, then Heartbreaker gets in beside her. Everyone looks to me. Oh, holy mother of God, they want me to go too.

"Malcolm, need a doctor or medic to go with. Once we clean up the trash, we'll meet you at the hospital."

I look into Frankie's eyes and realize there isn't anything I wouldn't do for her, so I nod and carefully get in the copter. The pilot points to the seat directly behind him. Once everyone is settled, he gives a hand signal twirling his finger in the air. Before I can even take a breath, he lifts up in the air and off we go.

One thing pops into my head. I'd hate to be any of those men down there because we're lucky enough to fly away. All they have to look forward to is knowing today is the day, after Shadow plays with them, they will take their last breath and die. What a sobering thought.